Myrrh

Myrrh was one of the three gifts brought to the infant Jesus by the Three Wise Men. It is, like frankincense, a gum-resin from a tree.

The question as to why, out of three gifts, the wise men should bring two similar gum-resins, is puzzling. It certainly means they were highly valued at the time.

Myrrh could be added to wine. Pliny the Elder, trans. John Bostock and Henry Thomas Riley, "Wines drunk by the Ancient Romans", The Natural History [c. 77 AD], book 14, ch. 15. London: H.G. Bohn, 1855. 253. Available online at books.google.com/books?id=A0EMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA253 It has some analgesic properties, and is used in traditional Chinese and Indian remedies.

Exodus 30:23–25 says Moses was to use 500 shekels of liquid myrrh as an ingredient of the sacred anointing oil.

 References 

Category:Natural materials
Category:Bible